Hmmm. Am about to hop on the internet..._________________If you cannot feel your arteries hardening, eat more cheese. If you can, drink more red wine. Diet is just "die" with a "t" on the end. Exercise is walking into the kitchen.

I remember going to the perfume museum a few years back. The man who runs it was absolutely lovely and I wound up leaving with so many free samples of french perfume that I am still using some of them now!

There was a really great daily market in the morning, but can't remember which part of the town it was in. Wouldn't be too hard to find again though I imagine.

The museum for La Rochelle is interesting and has some fabulous paintings as well as a beautiful apothecary garden which you can walk around. THe curator was another very sweet amn who wound up giving me free entry tickets to the other museums and sites in La Rochelle.

Wonder if that would work again...? _________________If you cannot feel your arteries hardening, eat more cheese. If you can, drink more red wine. Diet is just "die" with a "t" on the end. Exercise is walking into the kitchen.

Debbie, you funny girl!!! I knew that you would have info, and would be bringing it along!!!! Received some good tips from David L. as well. Yep, the marché is always my first place to visit upon encountering a new village in France!

Next week I am going to La Rochelle, France, for my first time. Would love any and all suggestions. Food, sights, things good for children and not, Everything! Thank you!

Hi Alisa,

We met at C&Z's 2nd anniversary party last October.

I lived in La Rochelle for 10 years, so I can give you some tips, I think.

The first thing that comes to mind is food. I wonder why? Besides the market, which I guess you'll be visiting, I can offer some suggestions.
Restaurants: The big seafood resto in LR is André. A smaller restaurant, but which is just as good (at least last time I ate there) is A Côté de Chez Fred, which is next to the poissionier, Chez Fred, on rue St. Nicolas.

Not sure how up-to-date that is, because I'm not sure that Les Pyramides is still in business. The site mentions Richard Coutanceau, whose restaurant is a landmark in La Rochelle. I've never eaten there. Coutanceau's son, Gregory, has opened about four restaurants in La Rochelle. Each has a different theme. I've eaten in his Food and Bar restaurant.
Stuff to do: The Aquarium is very cool. There are other museums in La Rochelle, but other than the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle (rue Alcide d'Orbigny), I'm not sure they are very interesting for kids. There are a couple of beaches in La Rochelle proper: La Concurrence and la plage des Minimes. If you want a nice long (albeit artificial) beach to walk on, go to Châtelaillon, which is 10-15 km south of LR.

If you have a car and are willing to drive, check out the Corderie Royale in Rochefort, Le Zoo de la Palmyre near Royan, and the Islands of Ré, Aix (no cars allowed; a ferry that leaves from LR or Fouras will get your there) and Oléron.

If you spend some time walking around "downtown" La Rochelle, you might want to check out these shops: Le Piment Bleu, rue Gargoulleau. This is the flagship store of a franchise. Cool "exotic" products, bulk spices, cookbooks, and more. A L'Olivier (corner of rue des Bonnes Femmes and rue des Cloutiers) is another chain store, but my friend and former neighbor Sophie runs it. Another flagship store is Genevieve Lethu, on rue Dupaty.

Wow. I guess I wrote a long post!

You may still have my e-mail address; if not, I have yours, and can give you more suggestions if you want.

I was trying to remember the name of the place where we stayed a few years ago - and you mention it!

We stayed at Chatelaillon, and I thought it was a cute little village. Bit cold and windswept at this time of year though.

THere are heaps of chateau in the surounding area also, but don't know if the kids will want to traipse around them.....

I had a lot of fun going around the "food/cooking" type shops and the staff were always very nice. It is interesting to know that I probably spoke to your neighbour... it is a small world _________________If you cannot feel your arteries hardening, eat more cheese. If you can, drink more red wine. Diet is just "die" with a "t" on the end. Exercise is walking into the kitchen.

Ali-Thank you for all the info! We leave tomorrow morning, I am excited just to be going somewhere different for five days. If you have the time, sure, send on your additional tips. But I don't know how you even have the time to blog, to tell you the truth!!! I barely have the time to read the blogs I like, more than once a week. Hope all is good with you, and thank you so much for this input!.

Ali-Thank you for all the info! We leave tomorrow morning, I am excited just to be going somewhere different for five days. If you have the time, sure, send on your additional tips. But I don't know how you even have the time to blog, to tell you the truth!!! I barely have the time to read the blogs I like, more than once a week. Hope all is good with you, and thank you so much for this input!.

No problem, Alisa. I was in La Rochelle today, and took my kids to lunch at Pattaya, on Rue de La Chaine (I think. It's in a little nook near the backside of André and one of G. Coutanceau's restaurants, Les Flots). It's the best Chinese food in LR, but the bill can add up quickly. There is no prix fixe menu.

As far as blogging goes -- I make the time to do it; it's my therapy. I'm also unemployed right now, so that helps. I'm also in the process of moving back to the States! Date limite? March 5th...

Next week I am going to La Rochelle, France, for my first time. Would love any and all suggestions. Food, sights, things good for children and not, Everything! Thank you!

I found you all while trying to find interesting lodging and restaurants in La Rochelle, France and I'm so glad that I did. My daughter is going to be studying in La Rochelle next year and this summer we are going there to familiarize ourselves with the area. We would like to stay somewhere charming and unique close to La Rochelle, or perhaps in La Rochelle itself. Any suggestions? Also we will be in Paris and Provence and would love to hear about your favorite haunts. We love great food and great bookstores. Please help!

Hello! Thank you all, so much, for the information.
We tried to follow all of the recommendations but with a 3 and an 8 year old, some restaurants and things didn't happen!

The old part of town was so lovely, we all loved the atmosphere and architecture, the port, the towers and the aquarium. We did go to and were really impressed with a small out of the way restaurant called Le Soleil Brille Pour Tout Le Monde. Reservations a must, even for lunch. It is tiny, great food, very friendly for the most part. There was this one guy...anyway. We walked by and checked out all of Allison's suggestions, and if not for the kid factor, I would have liked to try them all.

I really like the town/city. My most encompassing feeling was that it would be a wonderful place to live, small, but happening, and close to so much history and nature.

For places to stay I can not recomend enough contacting the La Rochelle Office de Tourisme www.larochelle-tourisme.com you can find the phone number on the web site. Someone there speaks english. They helped us find a nice, not fancy, clean hotel right on the old port, in the center of everything  Le Tour de Nesle. And they did it at the last minute, for a good price, after we arrived. It's a long silly story, and I wouldn't recommend doing it this way, but they saved our trip. (contacting them in advance and reserving your hotel is a much better way to go!) Once you arrive in La Rochelle go to the Office de Tourisme, pick up their booklet/guide. It has maps inside! AND times and dates of the markets. Then go explore!

Another friend in Paris, whose opinion I hold in the highest regard, gave me these recommendations:
Le Petit Rochelais, in the center of town,. There's a new owner and they weren't sure if the quality was the same (they were upset the new owner removed all the cow memorabilia)...but when I ate there it was very good. There is a gelato place just down the street the girls will like with lots of flavors.
There is also a fancier restaurant in town, Coutantceau, and my friend said she had the best mouclade (mussels in curry) that she's ever had.
La Tremblade is 1 hr+ from La Rochelle and that's where the oysters are. In the town of Rochefort, there is a charming little covered market and they are restoring Gen Lafayette's boat there which the kids might like.
La Rochelle has a interesting little shopping district with regular shops as
well as touristy stuff.

The Mouclade was amazing, and for reasons mentioned above we couldn't check out all of his recommendations in our 4 day stay.

La Rochelle is a port so plenty of good seafood there. There is a Film Festival in June or July. It's on the Atlantic there are plenty of beaches and tourism things to do. I doubt you will want for good restaurants.